A Lyoko Youko II: Going Loco
by happydemonhobo
Summary: AU:Third crossover with Code Lyoko:Complete:Jeremy goes missing and Shuiichi Minamino just happens to be substituting at Kadic again, but not for who you think.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Code Lyoko

Summary: Third cross-over with Code Lyoko: Jeremy goes missing and Shuiichi Minamino just happens to be substituting at Kadic again, but not for who you think.

Rating: **K+**

**A Lyoko Youko II: Going Loco**

**Chapter 1: You want me to substitute for who…?**

"You want me to substitute for who…….yes……….no but………….I see………..it's just not my expertise………..yes……….I understand……………I'll be there Sunday evening………yes the guest house will be fine. Thank you for calling and remembering me. Good-bye." Shuiichi Minamino (a.k.a. Kurama) hung up the phone with a sigh.

"What's wrong?" One of his best friends, Yusuke Urameshi asked, noticing the look the red head was giving the phone.

"That was the principal at a Kadic Junior High. He requested me to substitute again." Kurama informed. Taking his seat back on the couch next to the raven haired, he picked up the remote and hit play, having stopped the movie the two had been watching when the phone rang.

"That's good right…I mean you said you hadn't had any work for awhile." Yusuke said.

"Yes, but it is not a position I want to substitute for." Kurama said.

"Who cares what position…just have fun…unless it's like a janitor position or something." Yusuke huffed.

"Funny Yusuke." Kurama said.

"So what position is it?" Yusuke asked with curiosity in his voice.

"I would be substituting for a teacher that goes by the name 'Jimbo'." Kurama said, lowering his head and regretting telling the raven haired as he started busting out in laughter.

"Sorry…" Yusuke tired to apologize, wiping his eyes. "Just what does this 'Jimbo' teach?" He managed to ask.

"He is the gym teacher." Kurama said, not raising his head as he heard Yusuke continue to laugh and make comments like.

"Hope you have some spandex, fox-boy, and you better not go peeking in the girl's locker room."

Kurama just started praying to Inari that this was not going to be as bad as it sounded.

End Chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: What have I gotten myself into…?**

Monday morning found Kurama sitting on the bed in the guest house, cutting tags off his new clothes.

As he proceeded to cut another tag, his thoughts wondered to the events leading here to this moment. After getting the phone call to substitute, he had told his friend Yusuke, who had been over watching a movie at the time. Yusuke got tickled at the thought of the red head being a gym teacher and started saying some bad puns. The spandex and peeking in the girl's locker room had only been the tip of the iceberg. As the movie continued, Yusuke would let out another pun, each one getting worse and worse. Kurama only heard parts as he tried to ignore his friend. He remembered words like, athlete's foot, towel swatting, and lube in something, but successfully blocked out the rest. Glad when the movie ended, Kurama politely told the raven haired that he needed to pack and get some things done, but as he was closing the door, Yusuke couldn't help letting out one more bad pun.

"Hey Kurama, don't drop the soap in the shower." He said. His eyes still wet from all the laughing he had done.

"Funny Yusuke, I have already told you what kind of school it is and I refuse to give into these remarks." Kurama said.

"Well sorrrryyy, I just never thought as vain as you are that you would be substituting for a gym teacher, that's all." Yusuke said.

"Good night Yusuke." Kurama said, rolling his eyes and closing the door, in which he heard a 'good night, safe trip' in return.

On the way to the school Sunday, he had to stop by a sporting goods store and buy what could be called 'gym clothes.' He had no such items of clothing in his wardrobe, what he called his 'gym clothes' or more like 'work out clothes' consisted of his fighting tunics and he didn't think the kids would understand that.

Thus here he was sitting and cutting tags off one of five outfits he had bought. Unlike 'Jimbo' he did not want to be seen in practically the same outfit day in and day out. (Sorry couldn't help but put that in there)

He'd planned ahead and bought the five outfits, in the event he was here the whole week and his instincts had been correct. Upon arriving at the school and checking in with Principal Delmas, he learned Jim was on jury duty for the week, maybe longer. In which case he would just mix and match the outfits if it was longer than the week.

After getting dressed, in a deep forest green jogging suit, with a dark gray undershirt, he was heading to breakfast when he was confronted by the principal.

"Good morning sir." He said as the man walked up to him.

"I'm glad I caught you." Delmas said.

"Is something wrong?" Kurama wondered.

"No…no…" The principal said with a shake of his head. "I just wanted to go over your duties before your first class."

"Duties?" Kurama said, not understanding. He arched an eyebrow, he'd only been told he would be teaching gym, what duties could there be for a gym teacher?

"Well, you see, Jim does more than teach gym." Delmas told him. "He does things like lunch patrol and a shift as hall monitor. Also he does what we call 'ground patrol', that's where he watches the students between classes out in the common area, making sure there is no trouble and that the kids get to classes on time. He also does night watch every once and awhile, but I won't ask you to do that." He said jokingly, he had started walking when he began his speech, leading the red head to the cafeteria. "I hope you don't mind me joining you for breakfast." He added.

"Yes…I mean no…I don't mind sir." Kurama said, caught off guard by the request because he was trying to process all the information he had been given. It would seem he would have no free time in between classes, like when he substituted for Ms. Hertz.

"Why does Mr. Morales do all these extra things?" Kurama asked.

Delmas chuckled. "They are things he started doing over the years and I must say we, can't do without them now." He said with a shrug.

"I see, well then, shall we?" Kurama said with a gesture as they had reached the cafeteria. The breakfast shift was almost over and not very many students were there. Kurama made polite talk and after eating, Delmas showed him to his 'office', which was a basement closet full of gym equipment.

"You will find his schedule on the clipboard there on the hook. He does have a lesson plan. Though feel free to change it if you like." Delmas said and looked at his watch. "Gotta go. Good luck." He turned and walked off, leaving the red head looking at the clip board. According to it, he had less than ten minutes to get the things he needed and be on the football field. Quickly grabbing the things he needed, he hurried out. All the while wondering, 'What have I gotten myself into?'

End Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Slow start…**

By the time Kurama made it to the field, his first class was sitting in the bleachers waiting. Glancing at the clipboard, he saw that the 7th graders were the first class. Most of the students, the boys that is, didn't seem to care that he was substituting for Jim, but the girls had gotten all giggly when they saw him coming and carrying a bunch of jump-ropes.

He did the protocol for the class, i.e. attendance and asking if there were any injuries that might keep them from participating in the exercise for the day. With that out of the way, he passed out the ropes and began demonstrating techniques on jump-roping. According to Jim's notes, he was suppose to explain the history of the exercise, but Kurama thought these kids could care less, so he instead taught them things like the crisscross, two person jumping (one person holds the rope while another stand in front of them, then they try to jump together) and then double-dutch, which the kids enjoyed greatly. After 45 minutes, the class was over and he dismissed them. Looking at his schedule again, he noticed he had a break before the next class and was to go on hall patrol in the dorm. This turned out to be very boring, the time dragging.

Making it back to the field, he saw the next class waiting, the clipboard showing that this was half of the 8th graders. Apparently the 8th grade was the biggest class this year and had to be divided into two classes.

When he called attendance, he noticed his friends, Jeremy, Ulrich, Odd and Aelita were in this class. They were surprised to see him, though word had spread about his presence, they didn't get to talk however, as class needed to start. Kurama showed them the same things with the jump-rope and as he made his way around to each student, he tried to say a few words to the gang, but every time he got close to them, the girl everyone called Sissi would ask if he would come over and show her how to do one of the techniques. Each time he walked over to her, he would hear comments from the other girls, which he didn't pay attention to, he just told them to get 'jumping.'

At the end of this class, after the students were dismissed, Kurama was gathering the jump-ropes when the gang walked up to him and handed him theirs.

"Mr. Minamino, sir…it is nice to see you again." Jeremy said, looking around as the other students left.

"Thank you Jeremy." Kurama said taking the ropes.

When the other students were out of earshot, they begin to talk.

"What are you doing here?" Ulrich asked.

"I am a teacher Ulrich." Kurama smiled.

"Yeah, but where's Jim and why you?" Odd asked.

"Jim is on jury duty for the week and I was the only one your principal could find on such short notice." Kurama answered.

"Did Hiei come?" Ulrich asked, trying not to show any excitement at the hope that the black cloaked man had come.

"No, sorry…he is on a business trip, of sorts." Kurama smiled. Actually Hiei was in the Makai helping Mukuro, but the kids didn't need to know that.

"We need to get together and talk." Jeremy said.

"Are you having trouble with….?" Kurama was going to say XANA, but was cut off.

"No, not in awhile, but we should still get together and talk sometime before you leave." Jeremy said.

"I will be here the week, if not longer, so I am sure we will find time. You should get going, your next class is about to start." Kurama said.

With a few. "See yeah later." They headed to class.

a)a)a)a)

After a round in the common area, where he developed a fan club, that Principal Delmas

had to run off, he went to the lunch room and ran into Rosa, the lunch lady.

"Oh Mr. Minamino, sir, are you doing all of Jim's duties?" She asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Yes, I am. I am substituting for him after all." Kurama stated.

"Well just so you know then, Jim does not eat until after all the students." She purred. "And I will give you his size portion. You need to get some meat on your bones."

"That will be fine." Kurama, always being polite, said. The food at the school was not bad and he'd had a light breakfast

Kurama managed at lunch to talk to Jeremy and ask if they would like to meet tonight in the woods. Jeremy said that they had a big test in Miss Hertz's class the next day and that he was going to help Odd and Ulrich study, so that was not a good time.

Walking back to the field with a bloated stomach, because Rosa made him eat till he was about to bust, he saw his next class. He did the same routine with the other half of the 8th graders and then it was off to hall duty again.

He was so glad by the time the last class came, the 9th grade was a very small class, but he wasn't glad for long. None of the girls, except Yumi, wanted to get sweaty, they only wanted to talk about what hair products he used and if he got manicures. When that class finally ended, he was mentally drained and telling himself he still had four days to go. Letting out a big sigh, he prayed it was only four more days.

a)a)a)a

Back in his 'office', Kurama found an old net and decided to take the evening after dinner to fix it up. He was thinking tomorrow he would let them play volleyball and all he would have to do is referee and watch.

The evening and night were quiet, but things were not going to be quiet for long.

End Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Where are they…?**

Tuesday's volleyball was a success, allowing the day to move swiftly, it also didn't hurt that Kurama got asked to do other duties instead of hall monitor. He talked to the gang when he could, but had to back out of meeting them later because he had asked Principal Delmas if he could buy a badminton set, to which the principal thought was a good idea and gave him the money to buy two sets.

By the time Kurama got back from his errands, it was late, but that didn't stop him from treating himself to a trip in the woods behind the school, where he found himself a big trunk to sit and lean against. Taking the position of gym teacher was not his favorite job, but at least he got to do it here at Kadic, were he could always escape to the forest. He was glad to see the gang and to find out the war against XANA was going well. He also couldn't wait to tell Hiei about his visit, unlike Yusuke, he would not know what a gym teacher was, so he would not get teased.

Just after dark, Kurama decided to head back, he had treated himself to about an hour worth of spirit playing. But as he was cutting through the area near the man-hole cover, he stopped and ducked behind a tree, his keen hearing picking up the sound of someone or something moving in the area ahead of him. He watched as a figure made its way through the forest and wonder who it could be at this hour. When the figure got within sight, he realized it was Jeremy. He waited another moment to see if the rest of the gang was following, when no one else showed, he decided to see if the boy needed help.

Just as Kurama moved from around the tree, he stopped in his tracks. A few dozen dogs were making their way towards Jeremy, hunched down and growling. The look in their eyes was all Kurama needed to see to know they were being controlled by XANA.

Jeremy looked up from getting the man-hole cover moved and immediately climbed in the hole, dragging the cover back over. Kurama watched as the dogs leaped at the opening, but were shut out as the cover closed. Figuring that the others were on their way, he decided to handle the dogs, also realizing he couldn't let the dogs get to the school and endanger the other students. He didn't think the dogs were going to be hard to deal with, so he walked right up to them. The dogs began barking and growling as they surrounded him. He noticed tags on a few of them and knew they were house pets, though most of them looked like stays. Kurama's heart told him not to hurt the dogs, knowing it was not their fault they were being possessed. He also knew that once Jeremy and the others did what they needed to do in Lyoko, the dogs would be fine.

Letting his heart decide might not have been the best idea.

a)a)a)a

The sun peeked through the curtains as an annoying beeping sound filled the room.

Ulrich reached over and hit the alarm button then sat up and stretched before looking over at Odd and noticing the blonde haired had buried himself under his blankets. Picking up a pillow, he threw it hard enough to make the boy jump up from the covers.

"I'm up…I'm up." Odd yelled, followed by a yawn.

"Come on…let's get this day over with." Ulrich said, getting up and gathering his things for a shower.

"Hey…I wonder what Kurama has in store for gym today?" Odd wondered, doing his own stretching, before gathering his things.

"I don't know, but I wish he was our full time teacher. I like Jim, but he has no clue as to what to do." Ulrich said, heading to the door.

"I really liked playing volleyball yesterday. If it had been Jim, he would have had us sitting there listening to the history of the game instead of playing it." Odd said, following the brown haired out the door.

They had to walk by Jeremy's room to get to the showers. Stopping to knock, the two waited for their friend.

"Maybe he's already in the shower." Odd said and the two headed on.

They didn't see Jeremy in the shower and knocked again on their way back to their room. Again they assumed they had missed their friend and hurried to dress and get to breakfast.

As the two made their way through the line, they scanned the lunch room and still didn't see the blonde haired.

Taking their seats, they began eating. It wasn't long before Aelita joined them.

"Hey guys…where's Jeremy?" She asked as she took a seat across from the two.

"You haven't seen him?" Ulrich asked.

"Why no, he's usually already here with you." She said.

"He wasn't in his room this morning and he wasn't here when we got here." Odd said, stuffing his face.

"He might be working on something dealing with XANA. You know how he gets when he feels he has a lead on something." Aelita reminded them, for it had happened before.

Deciding she was probably right, they assumed they would see him before class, or in class and continued eating.

They heard Sissi talking at the table in front of them.

"I hope Mr. Minamino shows. He's usually here by now." She cooed and had a twinkle in her eyes.

Herve and Nicolas both growled.

"Let's go." Ulrich said, getting up and grabbing his tray.

"What?" Odd asked, grabbing his tray and following, Aelita close behind.

"Jeremy might be with Kurama, something might be up with XANA." Ulrich said, dropping his tray off and heading to the door.

"But Jeremy would have contacted us and beside, can you blame Kurama for avoiding Sissi?" Odd said as they made their way back to the dorm rooms.

Ulrich didn't answer as they made their way to Jeremy's room. They knocked again and waited.

"Okay Einstein, open up." Odd said, reaching for the door knob.

He went to open the door and found it locked.

"Jeremy never locks his door." Aelita said with worry.

Before they could wonder why the door would be locked and what to do next, Principal Delmas walked around the corner.

"Della Robbia…Stern…Ms. Stone, you know you are not to be in the dorm once classes start." He said.

"Sorry sir…we were trying to find Jeremy." Ulrich said.

"I'm sorry…I don't know who you're talking about. There's no one attending the school by that name." The principal said.

"What!" Aelita put her hand to her mouth.

"You know the rules…get to class children." Principal Delmas scolded, staying to watch as the three gathered their books.

After leaving the dorm the three stopped to talk.

"What did he mean that Jeremy was never here?" Aelita said.

"He must have been mistaken." Odd said. Blowing off the comment the Principal had made.

"Let's get to class and see if he's there." Ulrich said and headed to the science building.

a)a)a)a

They sat in class, noticing Jeremy's seat was empty. When Ms. Hertz called attendance, she didn't even mention Jeremy's name. After class, the three cornered Sissi.

"Sissi have you seen Jeremy?" Ulrich asked.

"Who's Jeremy?" She said.

"You know the blonde haired Einstein." Odd said.

Ignoring Odd, Sissi walked up to Ulrich and placed her hand on his chest.

"I don't know who this Jeremy fellow is Ulrich dear, but why don't you drop the side kick and hang with me." She cooed.

"No thank you." Ulrich said, taking a step back. "Let's go." He said to the others.

Together they left a very frustrated Sissi.

a)a)a)a

Hoping to talk to Kurama about the situation, the three sat in the bleachers and waited for the red head. After about five minutes, Principal Delmas walked up to the class.

"Students, I'm sorry to say that Mr. Minamino has not arrived this morning. He may be tied up with something personal, so today why don't you all just run around the track. I'm sure he will be back soon." Delmas told them and then shoed the gang onto the field, before taking a seat in the bleachers to watch the students jog around the track.

The three started jogging, after getting away from the other students, Ulrich spoke.

"Okay let's get to the factory and hope Jeremy's there and I wonder where Kurama is?"

"Let's hope you're earlier statement is correct Ulrich and he's with Jeremy." Aelita said.

"I'll contact Yumi on the way." Odd said, pulling out his cell phone.

The others nodded and on the next lap, near the fence line, they made a break for the woods, each hoping that the other two were already at the warehouse.

End Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Found one…found the other…**

As the three made their way to the man-hole cover, they saw a dome made up of brush and foliage. They could hear barking and wondered what in the world was going on.

Making their way around the dome, that measured about 9 feet high and about 20 feet in diameter, they saw a person sitting against a tree covered in dirt and blood.

"Kurama!" They seemed to all yell at once.

Kurama lay against a tree, his clothes torn in various places. He had numerous cuts, scratches and bites on his arms and legs.

"Hey, it is about time you showed up." Kurama said with a weak smile.

"What happened?" Odd asked, checking his friend over.

"I am fine, just a little drained is all and dealing with stubborn human emotions." He said. The dogs had managed several times to bite through the brush and almost get out, forcing the red head to use more spirit energy to maintain the dome. XANA had also tried to control him several times, forcing Youko to emerge and take control. Kurama went to stand and ended up leaning on Ulrich and Odd as they each grabbed an arm and placed it over their shoulders.

"I saw Jeremy heading to the factory last night." The red head told them. "The dogs are possessed by XANA and I knew I needed to keep them away from the school, so I detained them in there." He used his head to motion to the dome. "I thought you all would be following soon."

"Sorry, we didn't know anything was up until this morning when we learned Jeremy wasn't in his room and according to the school never was." Odd said.

"So he did not come back last night?" Kurama asked.

"No. We need to get to the factory and see if he's there." Aelita said, her voice matching her panic.

"Okay, shall we go?" Kurama said, pushing off the two boys and making his way to the man-hole cover.

Yumi ran up to the others and had heard some of the conversation. "Fill me in on the way." She said, catching her breath and seeing Kurama. "Wait, shouldn't you get medical attention?" He asked him.

"I will be fine. My spirit energy is returning and the wounds are healing." Kurama said, reaching down to remove the cover.

Making their way to the warehouse, Ulrich filled Yumi in on the events.

When they got to the computer room, there was no sign of Jeremy, though the computer was up and running.

"Aelita…do you know what this means?" Yumi asked, noticing a series of dots blinking on the screen.

Aelita made her way over and gasped.

"What is it?" The others asked and came over to see.

"There's someone in sector 5, I don't know who. I need a moment please?" Aelita took the seat. After a few minutes of hitting various buttons, she shook her head.

"It's Jeremy."

No one said anything, for their mouths were hanging open.

"I only know it's him because of his signature from the one time he went to Lyoko. He's not moving, so he may be being held. But he is in sector 5." She told them.

"Let's go." Ulrich said and was heading to the door when Yumi spoke up.

"I'll stay." She said taking the seat as Aelita got up.

Ulrich turned back around. "We need you."

Turning her head, Yumi said. "You need Aelita more, she will need to deactivate the tower and I've run the computer before. And besides…you have Kurama." She added with a smile to the red head.

"Hn." Ulrich said, causing the said red head to smirk at the boy who reminded him so much of his fire demon friend.

"Shall we?" Kurama said and motioned with his hand towards the elevator.

"Just like old times." Odd said happily, entering the lift.

Ulrich didn't say anything as the door closed, taking them to the pod room.

a)a)a)a

Landing in the forest region, they immediately headed to the coordinates Yumi gave them, meeting no resistance as they made it to a ledge overlooking the void.

"Okay guys…I'm entering the code…Scipio." Yumi voice was heard.

Kurama looked up to see a white sphere, with the black logo on it, make its way towards them. It seemed to be spinning at a high rate of speed as it got closer. He only heard Odd say. "Hang on…this is going to be bumpy." Before the sphere engulfed them.

Kurama felt like he was caught up in a tornado of sorts, as he had a sensation of tossing and turning, not being able to figure out which way was up or down. He felt a jolt as the sphere came to a stop, the whiteness fading as it left them at their new destination. He saw a vastness of crystal blue before his stomach did a flip, followed by dizziness and nausea that overpowered his senses, he fell to one knee and at the same time felt bile in the back of his throat. He was never one to get sick from this sort of thing and he mentally cursed himself. _'Don't be so down, that 'possessing' took a lot out of us.'_ He heard Youko say. Reaching into his hair, he pulled out a seed, which he placed in his mouth. He bit it, breaking into the juice, before placing the rest under his tongue.

Odd looked over and knew exactly what was going on with the fox, for he had a sense of nausea as well. Placing a hand on his stomach, he said softly so only Kurama could hear. "Welcome to sector 5."

Ulrich had seen the fox turn white before falling to his knee. He knew Odd had the same problem every time they came here and could not pass up the opportunity at having a shot at the spirit fox.

"What's wrong, you going to up-chuck fox… can't handle the ride?" He smirked.

"You need to get going guys, the clocks ticking and you have less than three minutes." Yumi voice was heard. "There's also been a tower activated in the mountain region, so make it quick with the rescue." She added.

"No pressure…really." Odd said to no one in particular.

Kurama watched as Ulrich and Aelita took off running towards an opening that had appeared in one of the bluish walls. He was getting ready to stand when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I can't handle the ride either and I've been doing this longer than you. But, I'll tell you what, when I do feel like I'm really going to up-chuck." Odd said with a smile. "I'll make sure I do it on Ulrich for ya…deal?"

Kurama let one of his wicked grins play across his face, 'now that I would like to see', he gave Odd a nod and they both took off to catch up with the others.

End Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Sector 5…**

As Kurama ran to catch up with the others, he found himself amazed at this new sector of Lyoko. He'd not been to all the regions of this virtual world, but this one seemed so different from the ones he had.

"What is this place?" He asked Odd as they ran.

In a spooky voice Odd said. "This is where XANA lives."

"Hurry guys…two minutes and counting." Yumi's voice called to them.

"What is she talking about?" Kurama asked as they came to a stop behind the others. They all had stopped in a big crystal looking room. It was huge and everything looked the same bluish tint as the room they had just come from. The only way Kurama could describe it, was if he could be in a diamond, but that might not describe it right. A glacier maybe, but without the water, that didn't sound right either. _'A crystalline maze.'_ Youko thought back.

"Do you see it?" Ulrich asked no one in particular. He was scanning the labyrinth, composed of planes, cubes and rectangles in a never ending wash of bluish crystal.

"What are we looking for?" Kurama asked again, a hint of anger in his voice.

Odd spoke up. "We need to find the 'key'."

"That does not help…what does it look like…and what does this 'key' have to do with this place." Kurama tried again to get some answers.

Aelita was standing a few steps away from the others, but she had heard Kurama.

"It's a security system, if we don't deactivate it, we will be trapped and have to wait for rescue ourselves." She said.

'_That does not sound like fun.'_ Kurama heard in his head. Starting to look for himself, though still not knowing what to look for, but hoping he would recognize something that was out of place, he asked. "Where is it usually?"

Odd jumped up on one of the hundreds of ledges. "It could be anywhere…it is never in the same place twice." He said.

"Wonderful." Kurama muttered.

"Guys…coming up on one minute." Yumi said.

After having looked up and around, Ulrich decided to look down and sure enough, there it was.

"Over there." He yelled and pointed.

"Where?" Odd and Aelita said as one.

"Over there…look down…in that corner." Ulrich said, pointing before flat out starting to jump and maneuver his way to it.

There was a rumbling in the walls and ground, the whole place started reconfiguring. Kurama watched as a pack of creatures that looked like large snakes with arms, popped out of the walls, there were five.

Ulrich's terrain had change and now he was heading more up.

The creatures started firing.

"Heads up…Creepers!" Odd yelled, just as they opened fired on the boy.

Urlich managed to dodge a few, but was hit and almost fell off the ledge, he managed to hold on and hull himself up.

"Aelita hide here." Odd said, pushing the girl down in a pocket that had opened when the room had shifted.

"Okay." She jumped down and made herself small.

"Time to rumble." Odd cried out and took off, immediately firing his laser-arrows, hitting one.

Kurama went into action. Reaching into his hair, he pulled out two roses while jumping in front of a couple of creepers. Throwing the roses, they turned into deadly darts and piercing one, right in the head, caused it to explode. The other fired.

The dodging and firing continued, Kurama taking his fair share of hits.

"Odd, watch it…only 40 life points left…Ulrich, only 20…Kurama 10…" Yumi's voice was heard.

"This ain't a walk in the park you know." Odd said, doing a flip and calling his laser-arrows, hitting another creeper.

They were down to two of the creatures, when the room shifted again. One was closed off, one wasn't.

Kurama took out the last one with his rose-whip and landed in front of Aelita, who had come out of hiding when the room started reconfiguring.

"He got the button." Odd said, panting, trying to catch his breath.

"Yes but he's been de-virtualized." Yumi voice said softly.

"Looks like it's just us." Odd said. Apparently finding his breath, he took off on another pathway that had appeared.

Kurama and Aelita followed on his heels as he went through yet another opening. Kurama slid to a stop, his eyes wide. He was looking into a void of space, standing on the edge of oblivion.

"What is this place?" He said softly.

"No time, lets move." Odd said and then jumped on a moving platform.

"Wait!" Kurama yelled as it sped off, with Odd on it.

"It will be back in a second." Aelita said and sure enough they saw it coming around the corner.

"Jump!" Odd yelled to the two and they both leaped, landing hard on their knees.

"Where are we going now?" Kurama asked, helping Aelita up.

"Where ever it takes us." Odd said.

The platform stopped, it had been moving in a side ways motion and they heard gears moving, before the platform started going up.

'This is just too weird.' Kurama thought to himself. 'There is no way I am going to be able to describe this to Hiei.'

The elevator came to a stop at a platform that was connected to the sphere, or so Kurama thought. It all looked the same to him.

This platform had a podium on it, which Aelita ran to.

"Yumi, I'm going to tap into the computer, give me the controls. I'll see if I can find Jeremy." Aelita said, calling up an image screen.

"How do I do that?" Yumi asked.

While Aelita explained, Kurama and Odd kept a look out for more of the creepers.

"Aelita…hurry up…the mantas….." Odd said, studying the walls.

Kurama did not like the sound of that.

"Got it." Aelita said, her fingers moving quickly over the panel.

As Kurama scanned the area, a panel opened at the other end of the platform along the sphere and a scipizoa came floating out. He let out a soft gasp as he realized it was carrying an unconscious Jeremy in its tentacles.

"Jeremy!" Aelita gasped, she had stopped what she'd been doing and fell to her knees, her small hands clutching her chest at the sight of the boy she cared about.

"Aelita! Aelita…give me the controls back…hurry." Yumi yelled.

Kurama took off running to the creature. He had dealt with one of these things before and knew what to do.

"Here we go." Odd said, watching as the fox took off running as he moved to Aelita, grabbing her and placing her small frame behind him, protecting her, so she could work.

Calling his rose-whip, Kurama took off all the tentacles holding the boy and just managed to catch the boy before he hit the floor, however, before Kurama could land, Jeremy faded.

The scipizoa went back into the opening.

"Yumi!" Kurama yelled, looking at his empty hands.

"Hold on." He heard. "He's here…I'll go see if he's all right. In the mean time get out and get to the tower."

"How do we get out?" He asked as Odd and Aelita approached him. Odd shrugged and a moment later they heard.

"It would be best to go back to the arena where you were." They all smiled as they heard Jeremy's voice.

"Welcome back Einstein." Odd said.

"Jeremy." Aelita's voice was soft.

"I'm fine…you need to get to the tower. You two get her out and I'll have Yumi met you in the mountain region to deactivate the tower."

"Got it." Odd said, heading back to the elevator.

They made it to the arena with no problems. "One orb ride to the mountain region please." Odd said as they came to a stop.

"Calling the transport orb…Scipio." They heard Jeremy say.

"Not again." Kurama muttered, not looking forward to the ride as the sphere arrived and engulfed them.

"One bumpy ride to the mountain region as requested." They heard Jeremy say as they arrived.

Both Kurama and Odd's stomachs did a flip and each placed a hand on their belly.

"Long time no see." They heard as Yumi appeared.

"Let's go." Kurama said and they all took off for the activated tower.

End Chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: To the tower we a go…?**

"You need to hurry." Jeremy's voice said.

"We know." Odd's voice yelled at the empty sky of the mountain region. "Yeah know you could give us our vehicles. That would hurry us better."

"I can't…there's a problem." Jeremy said.

"What's the problem?" Aelita said, starting to pant as she tried to keep up with the others.

"It's…it's nothing…you're just going to have to get there by foot." Jeremy's voice sounded a little nervous.

"How much further than?" Yumi asked. She too was starting to pant. It seemed the transport orb had dropped the others off on the complete opposite end of the activated tower where she had joined them.

"Not to much further, take a left at the fork." Jeremy said.

"Do we have any surprise guests?" Kurama asked. He was leading the gang, having a lot more stamina in his demon form.

"Ah…no…not that I can see." Was the answer.

"Do you not think that strange?" Kurama said, stopping, the rest of the gang checking up behind him.

"What is it Kurama." Yumi asked.

"I have only been here once, plus knowing Hiei's experience, and what I can recall, XANA always has monsters around. We have been running what seems like the whole length of this sector and not one monster has even showed itself." Kurama said.

"He's right Jeremy." Aelita said, wondering why she hadn't thought of that.

"Don't mess around guys. Take it as…see it as 'good luck.' You need to get that tower deactivated." Jeremy's voice was cracking.

"Jeremy are you alright?" Aelita asked.

"Yes…why?" Jeremy said.

"You have been through something quite horrific Ernestine, you should…." Odd tried to say.

"We don't have time to worry about me…you need to go…now." Jeremy yelled.

"Okay…okay…geez. We're just worried about you." Odd said, placing his hands on his hips.

"How's Ulrich?" Yumi asked, worried about him as well.

"I don't know." Jeremy said.

"What do you mean you don't know? Have you not checked on him? Is he not there with you? I saw him when I went to the…." Yumi's voice rose as she thought about seeing Ulrich sitting by one the pods, he looked dazed and confused, but looked alright, at least at the time.

"He's still out…I…I think he's still in the……" The boy's voice cracked.

"Jeremy?" Kurama said. Something was not making sense.

"I'm sorry…I…guys...blocks coming at 2 o'clock." Jeremy warned.

"You're the one who wanted action." Yumi said, smiling to Kurama.

'_That was just a little too convenient don't you think?'_ Youko said in Kurama's head as he pulled a rose and waited for their guests.

Kurama didn't answer as about ten blocks came into view, immediately firing.

'Something is wrong.' Kurama thought as he watched the blocks firing, yet not seeming to try and hit them.

"Man I'm on my game today." Odd screamed. "That's four for four."

Yumi moved up to Kurama's left. "This is too easy." She whispered as she was easily blocking the blasts.

"I was thinking the same thing." Kurama said. Suddenly he moved so he was deliberately hit.

The ray struck him dead in the chest, staggering him back several paces. Other than that, he felt fine.

"What are you doing?" Cried Yumi as she ran beside him. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, surprisingly so." The fox said with a smirk.

"Kurama, you just lost 50 life points…be careful, you need to stay and help get Aelita to the tower." Jeremy yelled with frustration in his voice.

Odd took out the last two blocks.

"Get going, the tower is just up ahead." Jeremy said.

The gang ran until they came to a white tower.

"Jeremy, this tower's not red. It's not an activated tower." Aelita said, stopping just short of entering.

"Well, it must be a trick by XANA. The computer says it's activated, so go." Jeremy said.

"Jeremy, do you realize what will happen if I deactivate an inactivated tower?" Aelita said.

"Yes, so…I trust the computer, you need to trust me." Jeremy said.

"If you're sure Jeremy." Aelita said, getting ready to walk in. The others watched nervously.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A familiar voice said.

Kurama held an arm out, stopping her. She looked up at him in confusion.

"Hiei?" Kurama said, his eyebrow rising.

"I got your note." Kurama could hear the smirk on Hiei face. "This boy is not Jeremy."

"Then…." Aelita gasped, as well as the others

"Are you sure?" Kurama asked.

"You doubt me fox." Hiei growled.

"No." Kurama smiled.

"Well now, that's just great. Then where is Jeremy?" Odd said, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

"He was obviously not in sector five." Ulrich's voice was heard.

"Ulrich." Yumi said with a smile.

"Yeah…I don't know what happened, but when I woke up, Hiei was standing over me. We came up here and that thing was doing something to the computer. I don't know what. Oh and Hiei said there were a lot of dogs surrounding the school. My guess is they are the same ones that attacked Kurama in the woods." He said.

"They must have broken through my barrier." Kurama said. "Hiei, have they gotten into the factory?"

"He's a little busy holding off whatever it is, but from what I can tell, the answer is no." Ulrich's voice sounded tired.

"What do we do now?" Odd asked. "How are we going to find Jeremy and Ulrich can't run the computer?"

"We also don't know what XANA was doing, what if he has sabotaged the computer." Aelita said. "We might not be able to return?"

"Oh that's a good one." Odd said, placing his head in his hands.

"We are going to have to take a risk." Kurama said. "Ulrich, can you bring us back."

"I never watch what Jeremy does." Ulrich replied.

"One of us needs to go back." Aelita said.

"Well Aelita, you can't do it, you have to stay and deactivate the tower." Odd said and then muttered. "If we ever find it."

"I'll risk it. I'm the only other one who knows how to run the computer." Yumi said.

"Actually, I was thinking I could risk it and then if everything was okay, you can follow." Kurama said.

"And if you don't make it." Yumi said, but really didn't want to hear the answer.

"Then we'll all just live here as one big happy family." Odd said.

"It's the only choice we have. What do you want to do?" Aelita said, looking to Kurama.

A smile crawled across his face. "Give me what you got." He said and turned to Odd.

"Okay, but this may sting a little." Odd said as he raised his arm and clicked a round.

"It should only take one since you lost a lot of points earlier." Yumi tried to lighten the mood.

Just before Odd fired, Kurama said. "Do not do anything until you hear from me."

The pod opened with a whoosh and Kurama fell limply to the floor, having that same feeling of being slammed back into his body, making him dizzy and clumsy. He knew he could never get use to the feeling and had great respect for the others who did this on a regular bases.

"Kurama?" He heard. "Kurama."

Painfully, Kurama forced his eyes open. "I'm here." He croaked his entire body hurting. He got to his hands and knees, nausea washing over him. Getting his stomach under control, his keen smell picked up a metallic scent. Looking along the floor he saw a dark blot of liquid. Crawling over, he dap his finger and brought it to his nose. 'Blood.' He thought and started looking closer. He saw a trail leading away from the pods.

"Ulrich…" Kurama said.

"Are you alright? Yumi wants to know what to do." Ulrich said.

"I need to check something out. Tell her to wait just a moment." Kurama informed and staying on his hands and knees followed the trail as it took him to an unmarked door at the back of the large room. Placing his hand on the knob, he got on the balls of his feet before turning it.

"Jeremy." He shouted as he saw the boy laying on the floor. Going to the boy, he saw he was unconscious and had a cut on his forehead.

"What's going on?" He barely heard Ulrich say.

Picking up Jeremy, Kurama headed to the elevator.

The door opened and Hiei flashed by him, followed by the fake Jeremy.

"What took you?" Hiei said.

"You seem to have everything under control." Kurama said, walking to the computer.

Ulrich jumped out of the chair so Kurama could place Jeremy in it.

"Where did you find him?" Ulrich asked.

Kurama didn't answer as he checked the boy over. Reaching into his hair, he pulled out a seed and busting it, held it to Jeremy's nose.

Jeremy's nose wrinkled and as he pushed back from the smell, finally opened his eyes and blinked a few time. "What?" He muttered.

"What is that?" Ulrich asked, curious.

"Think of it as smelling salt." Kurama said.

"And you carry that in your hair?" Ulrich said.

Kurama just shrugged. Jeremy was awake and looking at them.

"Welcome back Einstein." Ulrich said.

"What's going on?" Yumi said.

"Kurama found Jeremy." Ulrich told them.

"Alright now we can get out of here." Odd said.

"What happened?" Jeremy said, looking to Kurama.

The two filled him in and he immediately began typing.

"Okay there is an activated tower in the ice region, you need to head there. Take that tower, its fine. By the time you get there, I'll have everything fixed."

"On it." Yumi said

"Hiei, you need a break?" Kurama smirked as the fire demon blurred past him. Hiei had been keeping the fake away from them.

"You want to play fox." Hiei answered, stopping in front of him long enough to say it.

"Do you want to go to Lyoko?" Kurama asked, knowing the fire demon wouldn't pass up the chance.

"You think you can handle this?" Hiei asked.

"You doubt me…go…and remember to play nice." Kurama said, drawing a rose from his hair.

With Hiei's help the gang made it to the ice region and the activated tower.

It was nice to hear Aelita say. "Tower deactivated."

"Okay, everyone ready…return to the past now." Jeremy said.

a)a)a)a

The gang was standing next to the vending machines.

"So Jeremy, what happened?" Yumi asked, taking a sip of soda.

"I don't remember. I went to the lab to do some work. I've been looking into a way to transfer you all directly to sector five. I was in the pod room working and then I don't remember anything until I woke up at the computer with Kurama and Ulrich." Jeremy said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, you missed one heck of an adventure." Odd said.

Jeremy just looked at him.

"Don't worry Einstein, we'll fill you in." Ulrich said with a pat on the back.

a)a)a)a

"You're lucky I came when I did." Hiei smirked as he watched Kurama pack the last of his items.

"I know and I will owe you for sometime." Kurama said smiling.

"You will." Hiei said and headed to the door when Kurama had his bag in hand. Stopping at the door, he turned and added. "You know next time…I might not be there to save your fur, fox."

"I know…and I think the next time Principal Delmas calls, I will politely decline."

End Chapter 7

The End


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